Classroom Resources

Students will watch African dance and identify tempo. Three options are provided for this lesson depending on the class time allotted. The options include recording heartbeat at rest, calculating tempo in terms of stomps per minute, and choreographing an original dance with tempo changes.   

Students will perform the African-American dance Zudio using locomotor and non-locomotor movements. They will calculate the area needed to perform the dance. There are three options provided depending on the time allotted.  

In this lesson, students will learn about a range of dance styles from a video excerpt from the PBS KIDS series, PINKALICIOUS & PETERRIFIC™. The students will then use what they have learned as inspiration to make up their own dances. After warming up by dancing like robots, which the characters do in the video, children use creative movements to imitate animals, objects, and nature. After practicing their moves, students perform their dance in a class recital.

In this lesson plan, children explore the ways in which dance can represent the natural world. After watching video excerpts from the PBS KIDS series, PINKALICIOUS & PETERRIFIC®, they learn a dance based on the movements of the Sun, planets, and stars. They then work together to choreograph their own version of a “space dance” and perform it for others.

Students will watch a video about break dancing.  They will observe items in their home and around their community that move.  They will have a dance party, move to suggested motions, and react to various tempos in different songs. 

Students will compare and contrast quilting and square dancing.  This lesson has three options based on time allotment.  Students will graph a figure, choreograph and perform a square dance.     

In this lesson, the teacher will use a small candle flame to demonstrate a chemical reaction between the candle wax and oxygen in the air. Students will see a molecular animation of the combustion of methane and oxygen as a model of a similar reaction. Students will use atom model cut-outs to model the reaction and see that all the atoms in the reactants show up in the products.

Students will be able to explain that for a chemical reaction to take place, the bonds between atoms in the reactants are broken, the atoms rearrange, and new bonds between the atoms are formed to make the products. Students will also be able to explain that in a chemical reaction, no atoms are created or destroyed.

In this lesson, students will analyze the chemical equation for the reaction between vinegar (acetic acid solution) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). They will make the connection between the written chemical equation, the molecular model, and the real substances in the reaction. Students will see that the gas produced in the actual reaction is also written in the products of the equation. Students will also change the amount of one or more reactants and see how the change affects the amount of products.

Students will be able to explain that for a chemical reaction to take place, the bonds between atoms in the reactants are broken, the atoms rearrange, and new bonds between the atoms are formed to make the products. Students will be able to count the number of atoms on the reactant side and on the product side of a chemical equation. They will also be able to explain that the equal number of atoms on each side of the equation shows that mass is conserved during a chemical reaction. Students will also be able to explain, on the molecular level, why changing the amount of one or more reactants changes the amount of products. They will also be able to explain why simply adding more and more of one reactant will eventually not produce additional products.

In this lesson, students will combine two clear colorless solutions (baking soda solution and calcium chloride solution) and see the formation of a solid and a gas. Students will analyze the chemical equation for the reaction and see that all atoms in the reactants end up in the products. They will make the connection between the chemical equation and the real substances and see that the solid and gas produced in the actual reaction are also in the products of the equation.

Students will be able to explain that for a chemical reaction to take place, the reactants interact, bonds between certain atoms in the reactants are broken, the atoms rearrange, and new bonds between the atoms are formed to make the products. Students will also be able to explain that this definition applies to the production of a solid called a precipitate.

In this lesson, students will make two clear colorless solutions (baking soda solution and calcium chloride solution). They will help design an experiment to see if the temperature of the solutions affects how fast they react. Students will then try to explain, on the molecular level, why the temperature affects the rate of the reaction.

Students will be able to identify and control variables to design an experiment to see if temperature affects the rate of a chemical reaction. Students will be able to explain, on the molecular level, why the temperature of the reactants affects the speed of the reaction.

In this lesson, students watch a video and do a quick activity to see that a catalyst can increase the rate of the breakdown (decomposition) of hydrogen peroxide. Students will then use salt as a catalyst in a reaction between aluminum foil and a solution of copper II sulfate. Students will be introduced to the concept that a catalyst increases the rate of a chemical reaction but is not incorporated into the products of the reaction.

Students will be able to define a catalyst as a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction but is not incorporated into the products of the reaction.

In this lesson, students will use test liquids on different known powders and observe their reactions. Then students will use these characteristic chemical changes to help them identify an unknown powder.

Students will be able to identify and control variables to develop a test to identify an unknown powder. Students will be able to explain that a substance reacts chemically in characteristic ways and that these characteristics can be used to identify an unknown substance.

Students will learn and perform a line dance to You've Got a Friend in Me. They will perform both locomotor and non-locomotor movements while safely moving through space.    

In this lesson, the teacher models and describes the kinds of information students will be looking for in their research project on a synthetic product. This is done by using an example of a synthetic product that students make in the classroom: a gel worm (not for eating.) Students make it by combining a sodium alginate solution with a calcium chloride solution. The teacher uses this product to model answers to the three questions students need to answer in their research:

1. What natural resources are used to make the synthetic product?
2. What chemical processes are used to make the synthetic product?
3. What are the negative and positive impacts to society of making and using the synthetic product, compared to making and using a more natural product with a similar function?

Students choose or are assigned a synthetic product to research. They investigate the product to answer the three questions. Students apply their learning to make an advertisement, poster, short video, or article about their synthetic product.

Students will be able to find and analyze information to describe that chemical processes are used to convert natural resources into synthetic materials and products. They will also be able to give examples of how the production of synthetic products has impacts, both positive and negative, on society.

This lesson begins with a story about rescuing reptile eggs from a new construction site. Using the story as motivation, students are presented with an engineering design challenge: Build a portable device that can warm, support, and protect one reptile egg as it is moved from a construction site to a nearby reptile conservation center. After observing different heat packs, students discuss the criteria and constraints related to designing a heat pack as the basis for their device. Students investigate calcium chloride as an exothermic dissolver and then move on to calcium chloride and baking soda as the exothermic chemical reaction which will serve as the heat source for their device.

Students adjust the amounts of the reactants (water, calcium chloride, and baking soda) to achieve the right temperature range and then test a prototype in a sealed zip-closing plastic bag. Students use their findings and ideas about insulation and heat transfer to draw an optimized design that 1) Keeps an egg at the ideal temperature, 2) Holds an egg in the proper orientation, and 3) Protects the egg from impact. Each student or student group draws this device and explains how the device meets each of the three criteria.

Students will observe, describe, and demonstrate axial and locomotor movements. They will depict a dancer's motion in illustrations and photography.  

Students will use a sketchbook to draw lines of ballet dancers.  They will rehearse ballet steps.  

The students will choose a type of dance and research a description, history, and equipment needed for the dance. A Google Doc is included to be copied and shared with students. 

Students will move safely in personal and general space while creating movement phrases.  They will express themselves through a variety of shapes and movements.  

When reading, we all encounter unknown words at times. But how do we figure them out? In this lesson, students learn how to become a “human dictionary” by using a variety of strategies to figure out the meaning of unknown words. Students will be able to figure out the meaning of unknown words using various strategies and clues.

This lesson also offers a pre-lesson to help EL students.

Are you a rule-follower or a rule-breaker? Irregular verbs break all the rules! Use this lesson to teach your students how to use the correct past tense form of regular and irregular verbs.

In this reading and writing lesson plan, first and second graders will learn how adding the inflectional endings -ing and -ed can change a word's meaning from present tense to past tense (e.g., walking vs. walked). With the help of two entertaining short videos, teacher-led examples, and a unique dice game, students children will practice adding different inflectional endings to regular verbs while reinforcing important spelling patterns (such as dropping the silent "e" or doubling the consonant).

Students will explore and choose a favorite cultural dance style.  Working in groups, they will combine dance patterns, styles, shapes, and rhythms to form movement phrases.  They will perform their dance for the class.   

Students will study and learn various folk dances from the Oregon Trail.  They will choreograph a folk dance based on the steps they learned throughout the unit.  They will perform the dance for their class.  

This free, interactive website helps middle and high school-aged students explore the effects of the Tennessee Valley Authority during World War II. The website includes videos, photographs, handouts, primary resources, and more. 

This lesson provides information on how the Tennessee Valley Authority played a key role in helping the United States win World War II. Lesson plans are provided on the website including introductory activities and extension activities. Lesson plan powerpoints are also available. Full-length videos are provided on the website with video response questions as well as interactive graphics for student use. 

Students will incorporate locomotor skills, concepts of space, time, and energy while learning basic improvisational skills.  In groups, students will use improvisation to choreograph a dance to perform for the class.  

Students will choose two works from a variety of masterworks from across historic periods and disciplines to perform.  They will choreograph a piece incorporating elements from both masterworks.  They will identify choreographic components in both the masterworks and their original composition.  

Students will identify and incorporate the Language of Dance Movement Alphabet to increase dance literacy.  They will use the Movement Alphabet to notate an excerpt from a dance.  They will share with the class which movements they used to notate each dance. 

This article includes five different activities to incorporate theater and dance into the classroom.  The activities included are "Mystery Mover," "Stage Corners," "Carnival Walk," "Reader's Theater," and "When I Move, You Move." 

In this learning activity, students view images of constellations in the sky at night, trace the connections between the stars and describe what shapes, characters, or stories come to mind. They will respond to each constellation and season by making a statue that uses a dance element.  

Students will describe the way the sun and moon move in the sky. Working in groups, they will create a dance to show how the sun rises and sets in the sky. They will describe the levels in the morning, midday, and sunset. Another group will create a dance to show how the moon rises and sets in the sky and describe the levels that could be seen. The groups will combine their dances to show the complete process.        

Students will identify known shapes and describe their properties. They will create the shape with their body.  As a group, they will create a shape with all members. They will change groups and create another shape.  

In this activity, students will identify patterns, such as AB, ABA, AABA. They will provide examples seen in the classroom and the community. They will create a movement pattern using one of these forms. While listening to music, they will identify the form and choreograph a movement to represent each section.   

Students will read and summarize a story. They will be divided into three groups.  Each group will write a summarization of the beginning, middle, or end. They will choreograph a dance that represents their part of the story. The class will perform the dance.  

Students will create an imaginary force field and move around the room while demonstrating the weight of a variety of music. They will use a single word to describe their movements. They will work together to create movements to match the descriptive words.